Heinrich Hellmann textile store - Mauernstraße 38

From 1927, the merchant Heinrich Hellmann (born 1894) ran a textile shop at Mauernstraße 38; previously he had his store at Am Heiligen Kreuz 30 for a few years. However, he was then able to buy the more conveniently located house at Mauernstraße 38 and also moved his store there. He had two children with his wife Berta (born 1897): Emil-Jakob (born 1927) and Helene (born 1933). After Heinrich Hellmann's early death in October 1935, his widow continued to run the business until the pogrom in November 1938.

On the night of the pogrom, the shop windows and doors of the business were smashed, and the „Ordinance on the Elimination of Jews from German Economic Life“ forced Berta Hellmann to sell the property to the merchant Karl Fess.

On December 3, 1938, Berta Hellmann married Theodor Braunschweiger (born 1909), who had been employed as a salesman in the Hellmann’schen business since 1933. Braunschweiger was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp on November 10, where he fell ill with tuberculosis. He emigrated to Shanghai in December 1938. The consequences of his imprisonment and the poor living conditions in Shanghai led to his death there in 1941 at the age of 33.

His wife had wanted to follow him with their two children in January 1939. However, she was unable to meet this deadline because the sale of the property was dragging on. She appointed an authorized representative to handle her affairs and emigrated with her children in February 1939.

Sebastian Stiekel reports on the restitution proceedings: in addition to compensation payments for her husband's imprisonment in a concentration camp and a pension, she herself was awarded compensation for the personal damage she suffered to her freedom, property and assets. The business premises had to be restituted as the purchase price had been far too low, making it a classic case of „Aryanization“.